Concentrations of BOD and total ammonium have decreased in European rivers in the period 1992 to 2006, corresponding to the general improvement in wastewater treatment (Fig. 1). EEA water quality indicators have up to now presented European and regional overviews and country comparison. However, water quality data at national level may not be relevant or sufficient for some countries, and EEA will in the coming years change its indicators to reflect concentration levels and trends at River Basin District (RBD) level to duly reflect local and regional differences in water quality. See also WISE interactive maps: Mean annual BOD in rivers and Mean annual Total Ammonium in rivers

2010 will be a major milestone for biodiversity policy both in the EU and globally. It will be the year of the full evaluation of the delivery to the EU Biodiversity Action Plan and as well the UN International Year for Biodiversity.

How to read the map: in the Mediterranean biogeographical region (see Box 2.2 for an explanation of biogeograhical regions)
about 21 % of habitats have a favourable conservation status but 37 % have an unfavourable (bad/inadequate) status.

Today the European Union has the most environmentally friendly arsenal of rules in the world and has done more to tackle pressing ecological problems, such as climate change, than any other major power.
But it has not always been like this. Caring for the environment did not feature in the Treaty of Rome, the document that gave birth to the modern day EU. Yet environmental problems were never far away. Europe’s love affair with the car was moving into top gear, industry was busy belching out pollutants and raw sewage was being pumped into our rivers and seas.

42% of Europe’s native mammals are threatened with extinction, 43% of birds, 45% of butterflies, 52% of freshwater fish. The list goes on and makes terrifying reading. Worldwide, the loss of species is even more alarming.

Europe is a continent of breathtaking natural beauty and dramatic contrasts. The EU’s 27 Member States stretch from the frozen Arctic Circle in the north to the warm Mediterranean waters in the south. From the wave-lashed Atlantic coast in Ireland to the snow-capped Carpathian mountains in Romania, the EU includes a vast range of natural habitats and a great diversity of flora and fauna.
Our natural heritage includes several thousand types of habitat, 520 species of bird, 10 000 plant species and at least 100 000 species of invertebrate. Yet, in comparison with other regions in the world, these numbers are relatively modest. Europe is the most urbanized and densely populated continent in the world. It is also one of the most polluted. These factors have taken their toll on the natural environment.

Preserving and restoring the biodiversity and ecosystems of different habitats, from the countryside to mountains to the marine environment, is a major objective for the European Union. It is committed to halting the loss of its biodiversity by 2010.